Once you are an intermediate or advanced learner of a language, a great way to continue to improve and to grow your fluency and vocabulary level is by reading books in your new language. Not only do you get a great sense of satisfaction from having read a book in a second language, but as long as you are choosing a book you are interested in, you will be motivated to read the book and therefore to continue improving your language.

While it can be painful to read a book in a foreign language, if you can study that book on LingQ, it all of a sudden becomes a pleasure. There are a few key steps I will outline here to show you how to make this happen as easily as possible. It does require a little bit of time to do but the volume of interesting content this opens up makes it all worthwhile.

Find a book you are interested in

I recommend studying both the audiobook and ebook so you can benefit from the complete LingQ method which means reading the text, looking up the words and reinforcing your reading and reviewing by listening to the same content. Therefore, I usually start the process of finding a book by finding an available audiobook I am interested in.

Step 1 – Find the audiobook

I have a subscription to Audible.com, which allows me to download one audiobook each month. While they have a huge library of English audiobooks, their Italian library (the language I’m currently studying) is smaller. But they do have a lot of Italian audiobooks nonetheless and they seem to have Spanish, French and German too. Of course you can find audiobooks in many places but I find Audible with it’s accompanying mobile app easy to deal with. Since the supply of audiobooks is more limited I start here until I find a book I’m interested in.

Step 2 – Find the matching ebook

Once I have the audiobook, I search the web for the ebook as well. For Italian, I have found IBS.it to have whatever I need and to be convenient. I buy and download the ebooks from there. Make sure you are buying an ebook not a real book! I did this once but fortunately was able to cancel my order in time. It’s all good Italian practice since the site interface is in Italian too!

Step 3 – Download Calibre

Once you have the ebook, you want to convert it into a format you can use to copy the text from. To do this use Calibre which is a software that allows you to convert to and from all types of ebook format. I usually convert to a .txt file which I can then open and copy from. You may need to search Google to figure out where to find the ebook files on your computer if you have bought a kindle book or have a format not recognized by calibre.

Step 4 – Import to LingQ

Now that you have your text, copy and paste it into the Import Lesson page on LingQ. It will automatically get split into 2000 word parts and turned into a course. I always make sure to add an image to the first lesson as well which will then become the course image. It just makes it a little more fun to see the image on the course and lessons. Please don’t share these lessons with others in the Library unless you are sure they are copyright free.

Step 5 – Listen to the audio

Finally, you should figure out how to deal with the audio. I always use the Audible app which downloads my audiobooks automatically. If you want you can cut up your audio file into sections to upload to LingQ but that is quite tedious and not really necessary. It’s just as easy to listen in Audible or in iTunes and just manually track and input your listening time into LingQ so you capture all your statistics.

Hope this helps! Give it a try and let us know how it goes. Let us know which book you are reading!

We know many of our members love LingQ and love to spread the word about LingQ for which we are extremely grateful! Our refer a friend program rewards you with 20 LingQs per referral (for Free accounts) along with 200 points ($2) each time a referral upgrades (and an additional $2 each month they stay!).

We have some members who have been very successful at driving referrals so we thought we would share their stories with you in hopes that you can find some of their secrets useful in helping you be more successful at driving referrals, and hopefully, earning more rewards!

Gintaras, the “LingQ Builder”, was an amazing member who managed to drive an unbelievable number of referrals. With a population of only 3 million, Gintaras managed to refer nearly 1% of Lithuania’s population to sign up for an account on LingQ! Gintaras built several different websites where he posted content related to learning English online, and it was through these sites that he managed to refer nearly 30,000 members.

Learning_English is the pseudonym of a fellow named Pedro. Pedro has amassed a huge number of referrals by linking to LingQ from his blog and also by posting questions on Yahoo Answers in Portuguese and including a reference to LingQ (with his referral URL). Pedro’s blog managed to attract a lot of visitors as he focused on how to learn English, which is a popular search term in most parts of the world.

Delaf, our top referrer from Russia, has been actively promoting LingQ for several years now. He has authored some posts on popular Russian blog sites and has promoted LingQ through various different online forums as well. Through sharing his referral URL and his Known Words badge, Delaf has been extremely successful at spreading the word about LingQ to Russians all over the world.

So how can you help spread the word about LingQ?

1. Post about LingQ on Facebook, Twitter, G+ and other social media platforms. Friends often want to hear about great products or services that you’re using, so tell them what LingQ has done for you and try to encourage them to join as well.

2. Are you a member of any forums or online communities? Start a thread or discussion about languages and mention LingQ.

3. If you have a blog or website, post your LingQ Avatar or your Known Words Badge. Even a simple link to LingQ in the sidebar will work to help guide people to the site.

4. Good old word-of-mouth. Have a friend who is learning a language? Encourage them to check out LingQ as a tool to help them learn a language.

The LingQ Library wouldn’t be one of the best foreign language libraries on the web without our great contributors. They are not only learning themselves but also helping others learn languages through a variety of lessons on all sorts of different topics. As you know, each month we collect the expired points on LingQ and give them out to all the content providers through the Provider Awards. You can also thank the providers by giving them a rose and sharing the lessons that you like.

If you want to import and share your lessons, you can learn more on the Import Help page. Don’t forget about permission to use and share your content!

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to make our library even better! Here are the top 25 providers for May 2014:

The summer is here with new inspiration for our language studies! Our summer formula is pretty simple: happy and enjoyable learning = sun + smile + interesting content. If you are missing the last component, please check out our new lessons added to the site over the last month. Pick something of interest in your language and enjoy your summer LingQing!

These text and audio for these lessons was obtained from http://www.slow-chinese.com/. A new lesson is published on this site almost every week. In the LingQ version I have included a Pinyin transcription of the text. If you enjoy the lessons, you could visit the website and make a small donation.Lessons in Course: 2, New This Month: 2

Interesting content is king for those who learn languages. Everyone at LingQ today can choose from a variety of lessons from simple dialogues to works of literature. Politics, culture, entertainment, daily life… The list of topics could be endless. Check out the new language lessons in our library and pick something interesting in your target language!

You can find Grammar rules in my collections ‘Step by Step’ and ‘English Grammar and Vocabulary’ but not in this collection. In this collection you will be able to brush up your Grammar skills as it contains examples, and patterns of use of the most important rules and structures. Most of the lessons are prepared by the language teacher from St. Petersburg Evgueny40, and checked and recorded by native English speakersLessons in Course: 8, New This Month: 3

This collection consists of conversations that Evgueny40 from St Petersburg has had with English and German native speakers from different countries where these languages are native. You can listen to and compare different accents and different lifestiles. I believe that after listening to these conversations we will get to know each other better and enjoy studying these languages together.Lessons in Course: 80, New This Month: 1

In this collection my native speakers and I discuss and explain some difficult problems of English Grammar and word usage. Grammar isn’t the main goal in language studying. But without some basic grammar you can’t make up your phrases in English correctly and consequently you can’t express yourself properly. That’s why I hope this collection will be interesting and useful for all English learners.Lessons in Course: 43, New This Month: 1

Thanks to our wonderful providers who took the time to contribute lessons to our library and help others learn languages. If you like a lesson, don’t forget to give it a “rose” as a way to thank the provider for the great content they have shared!

Each month, we collect the expired points on LingQ and redistribute them to all the content providers in the form of Provider Awards.

If you are interested in importing and sharing lessons, you can learn more on the Import Help page. If you have interesting content (and a permission to use it, of course!), feel free to share it with others at LingQ. Maybe, your lessons will become a turning point in somebody’s language journey.

From January 15 to April 15, many of us have been working hard on our languages, sacrificing other activities, maybe even sleeping less… but it was worth it!

Congratulations to all our participants, both those who have met all the targets (and have earned a nice graduation cap for their Avatar), and those who didn’t quite make it but still hopefully had a wonderful time with their languages! Thanks to all of you who participated in this 3-month adventure. Although the 90-Day Challenge is over, our language learning journeys continue. Good luck!

Just 7 days left before our language challenge officially ends! Now is the time to push through to the end and get those targets met. Don’t forget! To see your targets, go to your Progress Snapshot and change the period to 90-Day Challenge. Make sure to record any activities you haven’t yet recorded. We’ve got a nice souvenir ready for your avatar but you have to earn it! If you’ve already met your targets, don’t stop now! Keep up the great work. We’ll see you at the finish line!

YOUR FAVOURITE WORDS

Thanks to all of you who have shared your favorite words in target languages. By sharing words and explaining the meaning, you can even help yourself remember these words better 🙂 Here are a few examples from the list of our LingQers’ favourite words.

Interesting content is key to successful language learning. Thankfully, LingQ has lots of interesting language lessons to help keep you engaged!

While some lessons on LingQ are provided by us, most of the lessons come from our content providers. To say thanks, each month we collect the expired points on LingQ and redistribute them to the LingQ members who have taken the time and efforts to contribute lessons to LingQ.

If you are interested in importing and sharing lessons, you can learn more on the Import Help page. Do you have some lessons that might be of interest to other learners? If you’ve got permission to share them, feel free to upload your lessons to LingQ!

Spring is in full swing in much of the world, which means we are nearing the end of our 90-Day Challenge.

Take advantage of the remaining two weeks for one last big push! Redouble your efforts in the home stretch. Fill in all the gaps in your progress snapshot to complete the Challenge and make your Avatar happy!

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE WORD?

We know you’ve all been working hard over the last eleven weeks. Undoubtedly you’ve come across lots of new words and have learned quite a few in the process! So, what’s your favourite word in your target language?

Thanks to all the participants who share their stories, experiences and energy of inspiration. Tell us your story on the 90-Day Challenge page!

Yotsuba: “I love a lot of things about the Challenge. In particular, though, it comes down to two things: the community and the content. I receive so much support from native speakers who, even when my writing/speaking has numerous mistakes, never make me feel I should give up. Yet, equally important for me is the content I use for my studies. I’m balancing beginner material with higher level material. So, I enjoy audiobooks, importing my own interests in literature/art and also conversations at natural speed. I feel it reinforces why I have taken on the language. That is a simple enthusiasm to understand and appreciate Italian art and culture in its native language. In no way do I find it dull or a chore. Equally I don’t see it as a ‘job’ I have to do every day. Yet I do it every day in the same way that I read, write and speak in English every day. It’s just a natural activity. The hardest thing is vocabulary. I really find it hard to do the cards and prefer to revisit texts numerous times instead. Yet I worry that I still only have a limited vocabulary. I just wish I enjoyed doing the SRS system. Nonetheless, if I there is just one single thing that I take from this challenge, for me it isn’t a superficial competition but rather a genuine immersion in the language”.